German death toll from Asian tsunami at 72

16th February 2005, 0 comments

16 February 2005, BERLIN - Germany's confirmed death toll from the 26 December Indian Ocean tsunami has risen from 60 to 72 after DNA tests on human remains, but hundreds more travellers remain unaccounted for, a Foreign Office spokesman in Berlin said. All 12 cases were identified by German federal police scientists sent to Indian Ocean holiday nations to compare genetic samples. The first 60 persons to be confirmed dead had been identified at morgues by relatives. Spokesman Walter Lindner said it was exp

16 February 2005

BERLIN - Germany's confirmed death toll from the 26 December Indian Ocean tsunami has risen from 60 to 72 after DNA tests on human remains, but hundreds more travellers remain unaccounted for, a Foreign Office spokesman in Berlin said.

All 12 cases were identified by German federal police scientists sent to Indian Ocean holiday nations to compare genetic samples. The first 60 persons to be confirmed dead had been identified at morgues by relatives.

Spokesman Walter Lindner said it was expected that more DNA matches would be made in the next few days. A further 546 Germans are officially listed as missing in the countries hit by the tsunami.

Germany does not categorize its missing like Britain, which distinguishes between those "highly likely to be involved" and those who were merely travelling in Asia and have not yet phoned home.